Loan Modification $3500 good risk????

[dirtyd]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

California

I heard ad on radio about loan modification. called Priority Lending. Talked to a liasion he told me I am a good candidate for loan modification based on hardships. Basically Priority hooks me up with Lawyers to make a case for a loan modification. It will cost me $3500 for the lawyers. I was told that is all that I will pay. Priority will not get any of the money they are just banking on me coming to them next time I refi or buy a new home. Basically what I do is collect all the bills I have car bill, insurance, pge, cable, credit cards, mortgage, ect.... I was told if all my expenses add up to more than 55% of my income I will probably be able to get my interest rate lowered and pay $500 - $900 lees on my current monthly payment. I also have to prove a hardship. I own the condo with my wife and my brother we each own 1/3. I recently lost my second job as a distributer and aquired $5000 debit in the process buying products that didn't sell. My brother is also now on unemployment as he is a sesonal worker. My wife and I are also getting divorced and we can't afford for one of us to move out right now because our mortgage payment is so high. My question is if anyone has experiance with this type of loan modification? Is $3500 a fair price for the lawyers? Is it a good risk to take? any input would be apreciated. Thanks!!

[HUD-1]

Before you send off $3,500 to someone in the cayman islands that you never hear from again, do yourself a favor and talk to a HUD-approved non-profit housing counselor. They offer foreclosure/default counseling at NO COST. They can propose a loan mod to the lender if it is feasible. 1.800.569.4287 for an agency near you or search online at [url=http://www.hud.gov]Homes and Communities - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)[/url]

[dirtyd]

Originally Posted by HUD-1

Before you send off $3,500 to someone in the cayman islands that you never hear from again, do yourself a favor and talk to a HUD-approved non-profit housing counselor. They offer foreclosure/default counseling at NO COST. They can propose a loan mod to the lender if it is feasible. 1.800.569.4287 for an agency near you or search online at [url=http://www.hud.gov]Homes and Communities - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)[/url]

My worries exactly!!! Thanks for the number I will be sure to call!! Have you ever heard of green credit solutions??? They are the ones I think I would be going through.

[CraigFL]

Check this out:

[url=http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/218/RipOff0218583.htm]Rip-off Report: Priority Lending Firm, Angela Bennett, Anthony Cooper, Amber Graff, a Scam - Beware of Rip Off New York New York[/url]

[dirtyd]

Originally Posted by CraigFL

Check this out:

[url=http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/218/RipOff0218583.htm]Rip-off Report: Priority Lending Firm, Angela Bennett, Anthony Cooper, Amber Graff, a Scam - Beware of Rip Off New York New York[/url]

Thanks. I don't know if this is the same company. I will look into it.

[dirtyd]

I found out from HUD that this is a scam!!!!! I can get a loan modification without any upfront payments to lawyers actually no payments at all its free. I am going through a HUD recommended non profit company now they will get my bills income info and as my lender for loan modification it will cost me nothing. I am glad I looked into this. I learned that many mortgage companies are really hurting from housing crunch and are just praying on people who are already in a tuff situation. BEWARE of these scams!!!!!!

[PaulMolinaroEsq]

Here in California, our Department of Real Estate website (dub dub dub dot dre dot gov) lists the companies that have DRE “permission” to modify loans… add to this list any licensed California attorney, and that is where you should begin your due diligence search when you seek help in California. Other states probably have similar laws, so check with your own state DRE and state bar.

My law firm has been getting more and more calls recently from homeowners that were victims of predatory lenders who put them into an unaffordable loan and now fell into the hands of those same people who sold the toxic loans but profess to be saviors… DON’T BE A VICTIM TWICE! What’s that they say, “Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice, and I’ll sue your butt!”

Do your homework and THOROUGHLY investigate any firm before hiring them to save your biggest asset and the place you call “home.” Scammers are popping up like dandelions on a freshly mowed lawn in April. They advertise on the Internet, freeway billboards, radio, television, and print media everywhere, not to mention spamming your email box with those third-world widows needing someone to receive three million dollars for them. Make no mistake, in many cases, these “loan modification experts” are the exact same loan officers and mortgage brokers who fleeced homeowners the first time around. After losing their jobs with the crash of the mortgage industry, they have found a new way to make ill-gotten profits from hard-working homeowners through loan modifications.

In California, with very few exceptions (and attorneys are one exception… no coincidence there… attorneys make the laws), it is against the law for anyone to take money up front for helping a homeowner who is in default. Don’t trust a company that begins its relationship with you by breaking the law.

HERE’S THE BOTTOM LINE!

Hire an attorney – and not just any attorney either - one with experience in mortgage law, not just one with real estate law experience but one with experience in both FEDERAL and STATE litigation against mortgage companies, one who doesn’t also do family law, criminal law, admiralty law, and immigration law as well, one who limits the practice to mortgage law (or at least a great majority of it), one who has the experienced staff, training, and know how to take on the big lenders and their top notch lawyers (lenders have attorneys – and darn good ones – check out their counsel on the web – big names top schools, shouldn’t you have a lawyer too?).

We are not talking about a refund on your broken television here, we are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars and your HOME – if you don’t think this is the time to hire a highly educated and experienced professional instead of a weekend schooled, almost out of work, broker slash loan officer slash “expensive water in a wine bottle with alleged magical curative powers” salesperson, I don’t know what would make you take things seriously.

Of course, this is one obnoxious lawyer’s totally biased opinion, but one based on many many distressing calls to my office every day. And, yes, my firm loves taking cases against loan modification companies who have violated laws. This field is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing sections for our mortgage law firm.

- Paul J. Molinaro, Esq.